President Donald Trump told Poway Synogague Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein that he is doing something to stop anti-Semitism in the United States. The facts show the contrary, one former Homeland Security official told CNN's Don Lemon.
George Selim, who now works at the Anti-Defamation League, said Sunday that 2017 “saw nearly a 57 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents across the country. This is the first time we ever saw an anti-Semitic incident in all 50 states.”
Selim is the former director of Countering Violent Extremism Task Force for Homeland Security, which has seen dramatic budget cuts under the Trump administration. He noted 2018 marked the most significant spike the ADL has seen in 40 years since they’ve been tracking anti-Semitic incidents.
"This is a classic case of words versus actions," he told Lemon Monday. "In fact, I watched the president speak on Saturday night at the rally in Green Bay. I watched his very firm and strong condemnation on anti-Semitism at the State of the Union Address several months ago. The president’s words are strong but the actions do not back them up. The federal budget does not reflect a commitment to combatting radicalization and recruitment and domestic terrorism, those are the facts."
He went on to say the top things needed are resources and leadership. He wants to see Trump fully fund the Task Force, the federal agencies, law enforcement and more that are committed to addressing domestic terrorism and domestic extremism.
Trump, who frequently claims to be a strong and decisive leader in the face of terrorism, has completely ignored the issue of domestic terrorism at the hands of white supremacists and Nazis.
Lemon showed a pie-chart that showed the extremist-related killings by affiliation from 2009 to 2018. It revealed that over 73 percent of the murders were at the hands of right-wing extremists, not Islamic extremists.
"And yet, if you were to listen to the president you might think opposite," Lemon said.
Trump and his aides are now trying to convince Americans that when the president said that there were "very fine people on both sides" of Charlottesville, he didn't actually say that there "were very fine people on both sides."
Watch the full conversation below:
